3com WX2200 3CRWX220095A User Manual

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Configuring Web Portal WebAAA
461
The user opens a Web browser. The Web browser sends a DNS request 
for the IP address of the home page or a URL requested by the user. 
MSS does the following:
„
Intercepts the DNS request, uses the MSS DNS proxy to obtain the URL 
IP address from the network DNS server, and sends the address to the 
user’s browser. 
„
Serves a login page to the WebAAA user. (Also see “Display of the 
Login Page” on page 461.)
The user enters their username and password in the WebAAA login page.
MSS authenticates the user by checking RADIUS or the switch’s local 
database for the username and password entered by the user. If the user 
information is present, MSS authorizes the user based on the 
authorization attributes set for the user.
MSS ignores the VLAN-Name or Tunnel-Private-Group-ID attribute 
associated with the user, and leaves the user in the VLAN associated with 
the SSID’s service profile (if wireless) or with the web-portal-wired user (if 
the user is on a wired authentication port).
After authentication and authorization are complete, MSS changes the 
user’s session from a portal session with the name web-portal-ssid or 
web-portal-wired to a WebAAA session with the user’s name. The 
session remains connected, but is now an identity-based session for the 
user instead of a portal session. 
MSS redirects the browser to the URL initially requested by the user or, if 
the URL VSA is configured for the user, redirects the user to the URL 
specified by the VSA.
The web page for the URL to which the user is redirected appears in the 
user’s browser window. 
Display of the Login Page
When a WebAAA client first tries to access a web page, the client’s 
browser sends a DNS request to obtain the IP address mapped to the 
domain name requested by the client’s browser. The WX proxies this DNS 
request to the network’s DNS server, then proxies the reply back to the 
client. If the DNS server has a record for the requested URL, the request is 
successful and the WX serves a web login page to the client. However, if 
the DNS request is unsuccessful, the WX displays a message informing 
the user of this and does not serve the login page.